Amid all the complaining about how bad our goalies are, or how weak our defence is, we sometimes overlook the positive things about a team. There have been some players that have been quietly been playing really well during this season for the Lightning, the rookie Dana Tyrell has been one of them.

First some background on him:He was a second round draft pick in 2007, taken 47th overall by Tampa. Before the Lightning, he played for the Prince George Cougars (same team that Lightning prospect Brett Connolly plays for right now) in the WHL. He was named to the 2009 Team Canada World Junior team but didn't get to play because of a knee injury he sustained in an exhibition game against Sweden before the tournament. He ended up blowing out both his ACL and MCL and now plays on a rebuilt knee.

Last year he spent the season down in Norfolk for the Admirals where after struggling in the early part of the season, ended the with 74 games played, 9 goals and 27 assists.

This year, he made his NHL debut against the Atlanta Thrashers on October 9th and ended up scoring his first goal on October 27th against Marc-Andre Fleury of the Pittsburgh Penguins in Tampa's comeback win. Over the twenty five games he's played so far this year he now has 3 goals and 3 assists. That's pretty good for a rookie who is only getting an average of 11:32 per game.Continue reading after the jump...***

He's done a great job centering the fourth, and sometimes the third line, so far this season. He's had a bigger role that expected due to all the injuries to the forwards this season.

“He’s our biggest surprise this year,” said Lightning head coach Guy Boucher. “When we started this season, I didn’t think he would make our team.-Slam Sports

Not even the coach thought he would make the team but here he is, one of the character guys who has been able to chip in with some goals. He's played hard each game, chasing after pucks with his speed and has been able to contribute offensively for the team. I've even stopped making fun of him because of his first name that keeps reminding me of Scully of the X-files.

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